Knoxville CUSD 202

We are proud to announce that Knoxville CUSD 202 was awarded the Stronger Connections Grant (SCG), a competitive grant secured through Dr. Guerrero's application last spring. This grant provides restricted funds dedicated to three key goals:

1. Daily SEL/ProSocial Behavior Supports: Expanding access to Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs, including Character Strong training.
2. Educator and Student Training: Increasing educator certifications in MTSS frameworks and providing evidence-based SEL programming like Character Strong for students.
3. Family and Community Engagement: Establishing practices to inform and involve families and stakeholders in creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environment, aligned with the Portrait of a Graduate work.

This funding enhances our efforts to foster a supportive, inclusive school community. We thank everyone for their ongoing support in achieving these vital goals!

As we continue our District's journey to strengthen the social-emotional foundation of our schools, I am excited to share the progress and promise of the Character Strong program, reaching students in grades K-12. Knoxville CUSD has used this program for the past 7 years, however, training and implementation has been inconsistent. This year we are focused on supporting the researched based approach in our implementation process. This transformative initiative is made possible by the dedication of our guidance deans and outreach coordinator, who tirelessly work to provide weekly lesson links, incentives, and valuable resources for our staff and students. Their efforts are embedding critical values—empathy, respect, and responsibility—into the heart of our school culture.

Culture: "...goes much deeper than a mission statement...culture is how group members actually behave, repeatedly and habitually." -James Hunter

Knoxville CUSD 202 is leading the way in making 21st century learning a reality for all students. We are actively engaging diverse perspectives from our staff, students, and broader community in developing a Portrait of a Graduate, a collective vision that articulates our shared aspirations for every student. Here is a brief video on Preparing Future Ready Students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svZblUEiOmM

Competitive grants are an opportunity to enhance programs beyond our regular resources (local tax dollars and state funding) but are not guaranteed or required. These grants involve additional effort, writing and budgeting skills, and collaboration, above and beyond normal workloads and duties, to benefit our students and community. We appreciate your understanding and support as we pursue these valuable opportunities.

The allocations for this competetive grant program have not been released yet from ISBE. The allocations for this program have not been released yet from ISBE. This program is for the KJHS and KHS only. The program will be housed at the High School for all students. This program includes enrichment and academic tutoring opportunities . We are starting pre planning meetings with the ROE. The ROE will start to advertise for the coordinator job.

We have been selected to extend the opportunity for our grades 2-5 teachers to receive Professional Development Support and be part of a UConn study with the National Gifted Council. UConn will review the implementation of Board of Education Policies 6:130 and 6:135 Gifted and Advanced Placement. We are already doing this work and in FY 23 we developed systems to review student data. Along with this study UConn will review student data we already collect and recommend placement. They will also help guide the team work that we are already doing serving as expert critical friends. If students are identified as gifted the University of Iowa will facilitate the testing required for gifted testing at no charge when a student is identified as gifted.

The teachers are asked to complete self paced modules on the topic of gifted and accelerated students if selected in the control group. If not they will have access next year to the modules.

We are excited at MWES to implement acceleration opportunities for our young scholars. The 4th Grade math classes have 17 students who qualified for accelerated math learning. Mrs. Derham is leading this programming opportunity for the 4th grade with the collaboration and support of her entire 4th grade teacher team! We are excited for the work and opportunities they are providing.

The state is implementing the LETRS as part of the State Literacy Plan. Knoxville has already trained and implemented LETRS at the Elementary building. This statewide effort, has provided a learning opportunity for Mr. Maaske, Mrs. McClay and Dr. Guerrero. We are all currently being trained at no cost to the District through ISBE. The state is moving to comprehensive guidelines and plan implementation to conserve resources and provide statewide Professional Development.

Thank you to the community members and staff who joined us for a facilities presentation on November 12 at 6 pm in the Mable Elementary Gym. Our facility leadership team was introduced and we provided an interactive format of the Health Life Safety plan and discussed upcoming facilities needs, along with the next steps in the process. This was an important opportunity to learn about and engage in the future of our district's facilities. We look forward to our next meeting, which is tentatively targeted for early February.

We are still working with the Illinois State Board of Education and our District Architects to get our 10-year Health, Life, Safety Plans approved for MWES and KHS.

Visit the District Website for District-Wide News https://www.bluebullets.org/

School Specific News Visit

KHS https://www.bluebullets.org/o/khs

KJHS https://www.bluebullets.org/o/jh

MWES https://www.bluebullets.org/o/mwe

Superintendent Updates and Presentations can be found on What's New Page as well.

Our District Podcast featuring students and teachers can be found at https://www.buzzsprout.com/2319526

A reminder, the only official district social media site is the Facebook page, Knoxville CUSD 202.

Download the District Apptegy App. This is a one stop shop for all District Communication through the website, Thrillshare (alert system), and Rooms.

Knoxville School District is facing some financial challenges in the upcoming 2024-25 school year. The district's enrollment continues to decline slightly, with total student numbers dropping from 964 students in FY23 to an expected 929 students in FY25.

The main education fund is projected to spend more than it takes in, with expenses of about $11.2 million compared to revenues of $10.1 million. This means the district needs to be careful with its spending. Some key points about the budget include:

• The district is moving away from relying on temporary federal COVID relief funds (ESSER) and needs to adjust its spending accordingly

• Teacher base salary will be $41,188 to meet state requirements, which will increase each year

• The district is making changes to save money, including:

• Reducing supply spending by 15-20%

• Not including new textbook funding this year

• Looking for ways to reduce substitute teacher costs

• Considering larger class sizes in the future

• Being more flexible with how staff are assigned between schools

The district's cash reserves are lower than recommended - they will have about 56 days worth of operating costs saved up, when the recommendation is to have 6 months' worth. They're also receiving less money from some sources, like the Personal Property Replacement Tax which is decreasing by about 35%.

The school board's main goals remain focused on student achievement, having effective teachers and staff, maintaining a positive district culture, and being financially responsible. They are trying to balance these goals while dealing with tight finances.

Looking ahead, the district will need to make some tough decisions about staffing levels, class sizes, and programs to ensure they're using their resources wisely while still providing quality education for students.

December 19 KHS Finals Periods 2, 4, 6, 8

December 20 KHS Finals Period 1,3,5,7

December 20 1 hour early Dismissal, End of 2nd Quarter

December 23 to January 6 Student Winter Break

December 23 to January 5 Certified Teachers Winter Break

January 6 Certified Teachers Report to School, all staff reports to High School 1st

January 7 Students Report to School

January 20 No School- MLK Day

Feb 14 No School for students- Full Day P/T Conference

Feb 17 No School